The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on Friday said that its previous audit reports revealed revenue losses of N1.3 trillion from under-assessments and underpayments by companies.

NEITI Board Chairman, Mr. Ledum Mitee, disclosed this in Uyo while addressing journalists at the end of a five-day retreat for members of NEITI National Stakeholders Working Group.

Mitee said the NEITI Board had resolved to sanction companies found to have tendered false information or failed to provide their statements of accounts.

He said that public officers, whose actions had caused under-assessment or underpayment of revenue to the Federal Government, would be exposed.

“We shall invoke the statutory sanctions against relevant government agencies identified to have willingly frustrated the implementation of remedial issues in NEITI Audit Reports.

“NEITI can no longer sit down and allow these recoverable funds accruableto the Federal Government remain with defaulting companies.

“It will do good to recover these funds to finance the deficits in our annual budgets,” Mitee said.

He called for greater support from the media, civil society organisations and law enforcement agencies to the activities of NEITI.

The News Agency of Nigeriareports that the retreat had the theme “From Transparency to Accountability.”

http://thenationonlineng.net/new/news-update/fg-lost-n1-3tr-to-underpayments-under-assessment-neiti/